You are, of course, right. You should have that option available to you if any concerns regarding speed of operation and data integrity are not deemed important.

But realistically… come on: would you actually want to run Windows 11 off of an HDD? It’s clear that modern mainstream operating systems have different needs than legacy ones. They work in a way that needs fast random access to small files and HDDs have never been good at that.

Core Linux can run off of anything, sure, even a slow USB 2.0 stick would do. But it’s no coincidence that e.g. Apple has dropped even its hybrid SSD/HDD drives for years now: macOS may be based on Unix, but the way it’s using system drives with modern applications practically dictates the presence of an SSD. The “user experience” Apple is so proud of would have suffered otherwise.

All Microsoft is doing is “officially” catching up with the times, to be honest. It WILL make a difference to low-powered PCs’ usability and that is why I think it’s a good idea. Just my two cents.